Society has become more and more dependent upon technology. As electronic devices have become increasingly ubiquitous, our dependence on them also increases.
Keeping our electronic devices secure is also extremely important. Many security techniques have been utilized. One of the most common security techniques is password protection. Passwords can be used to prevent access to an electronic device by unauthorized users.
One problem with passwords is that anyone who finds out the password of another user can use that password to access that person's device. For this reason, many hardware devices require users to change their passwords on a regular basis. One unfortunate downside to this required password changing is that users end up with so many different passwords for all of their various devices and programs that it is easy to forget a password.
In order to maintain privacy of users and to keep unauthorized people or agencies from viewing files or data on an electronic device, device manufacturers have made it extremely difficult for anyone to access an electronic device without the log in password. This leads to a serious issue in the case where the owner of the phone forgets the password or becomes incapacitated. This can be an even bigger problem when the user has important files or data on the electronic device and where the important files or data have not been backed up or transferred to the cloud.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of recovering files from a locked device when the owner of the device is unable to unlock the device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.